Suppose you are already convinced that buying a car navigator is the right thing to do. Now the question arises about which gadget is better to choose. Let's tell you briefly.

Characteristics of car navigators

• Display size and resolution. The quality of the image and the ease of its perception directly depend on these characteristics, so it is important to pay attention to them. The screen size varies diagonally from 2.7 to 7 inches, resolution – from 320x240 pixels. up to 800x480 pixels;
• Processor (chipset). Performs calculations to determine coordinates and establish accurate signal reception. Today, car navigators most often use SiRF Star III, SiRF Atlas III and SiRF Atlas IV and SiRF 3i+ 600 MHz chips;
• Cards. A factor that is responsible for the efficiency of performing the main functions of a navigator - correct orientation on the ground and accurate route planning. It makes sense to decide in advance which maps of which regions are relevant to you. The leaders in the number of Russian regions represented on maps today are Garmin car navigators;
• Traffic jam tracking. An extremely relevant function that allows you to find detours and avoid tedious standing in traffic jams. The navigator communicates with its peers via the Internet and receives information about current traffic congestion;
• Software. Most car navigators today have similar functionality and differ only in software. Software for car GPS There are many navigators today, but we will single out Garmin, since the company has long been a worldwide leader in the production of navigation devices and the creation of navigation devices for them. software. Garmin has maps of many cities and countries around the world.

Add. Navigator functions:

• Hands free ( Speakerphone) allows you to make and receive phone calls without being distracted from the driving process;
• Voice prompts. The ability of the navigator to inform the user about upcoming turns, exits, etc.;
• An MP3 player allows you to listen to music and audiobooks on the go;
• Video. Providing the user with the opportunity to watch various videos on the navigator display;
• Photo. Displaying photographs saved in various formats (JPEG, GIF, BMP and TIFF) on the navigator screen;
• The FM transmitter makes it possible to transmit sound to the standard radio (music, audiobooks, voice prompts navigator).

Where to get?

So, if after reading this the thought “Yes, I really will buy a car navigator” flashed through your mind - this thought is correct. But here another question arises - where to find car navigators, the price of which will pleasantly please you? But here it is worth stopping in more detail. Because the cost of such a high-tech device cannot be unreasonably low. The miser pays twice - the popular wisdom is also correct in the case of car navigators, the price of which is determined based on the quality of its components, assembly, level of “advancedness” of the software and guarantees provided by the manufacturer for its products.

The network of Garmin branded stores offers any navigators: car ones, the prices for which are a reasonable combination of product quality and the absence of additional cost “markups” from the retailer.

We hope that your desire to “buy a car navigator” after reading this article has transformed into “I only want a Garmin”, because we are really proud of the level of quality of the assortment we create and sincerely wish you to purchase the gadget of your dreams!

Mobile marine gps navigator- a necessary thing. It does not replace a stationary yacht navigation. But it allows you to feel confident when ferrying boats, on rented vessels, etc.

Mobile marine gps navigator- This:
- route planning outside the vessel, on the shore, long before going to sea;
- quick transfer prepared route parameters to the yacht navigation system;
- monitoring the operation of the ship’s onboard instruments.

For the past 15 years, I have used the most different devices.

UNIVERSAL LAPTOP

At first it was just a laptop with cartography and external GPS.

Mobile GPS navigator-chartplotter based on a universal laptop

Plus: except navigational functions, the laptop coped well with all other tasks: office, mail, Internet, working with photo and video material.

Cons: bulky; moisture resistance and, accordingly, inconvenience or inability to use in the cockpit; high energy consumption; Frequently changing the laptop to a new one due to the aggressive external environment.

NETBOOK SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR NAVIGATION ONLY

After traveling around Australia and New Zealand, another universal laptop fell into disrepair and gave way to a small netbook with an external GPS, where there was no unnecessary software: only navigation mapping programs.

A netbook specially designed for sea ​​navigation

Plus: low power consumption; increased reliability due to the installation of only specific software and the lack of Internet access.

Cons: the need for a second laptop for other universal tasks; moisture resistance and, accordingly, inconvenience or inability to use in the cockpit.

NETBOOK IN ROOM PLUS TABLET IN COCKPIT

Over time, the netbook was expanded Android tablet in the cockpit. Tablet communicated with the netbook via RDP and was a “reflection” of the mapping system screen.

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Plus: convenience tablet in the cockpit; increased system reliability due to the installation of only specific software on the netbook and the lack of access to the Internet from it.

Cons: funny RDP protocol collisions; the need for a second laptop for other universal tasks.

UNIVERSAL PROTECTED TRANSFORMER LAPTOP

And finally, today's solution: a universal, rugged convertible laptop suitable for all-weather use in the cockpit.

Transformer Panasonic CF-19. Tablet

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Mobile marine GPS navigator. Dream and reality

While having fun with various sets of equipment, I constantly looked towards rugged laptops. At some point, models appeared that could fulfill the role marine navigator. But their price forced us to consider similar solution only as an abstract fairy tale. The same applied to “used” models: at a normal price they were too weak, but with a sane configuration they were pulled up to the cost of their new “brothers”.

At the beginning of the summer of 2015, I once again admired the achievements of military computer builders, became convinced that a quarter of a million rubles per laptop was stupid, and I moved on to pressing matters, like...

How did I find the Omsk company “Ant-55” (www.ant55.ru/), where a set of a “stuffed” secure laptop in excellent condition, including shipping, cost me less than 60 thousand of my own freely convertible rubles! This is how I became the owner of a mobile phone Marine GPS navigation system based on protected tablet-transformer.

Transformer Panasonic CF-19. Tablet and a laptop “in one package”.

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Mobile marine GPS navigator. Set.

I would like to say thank you to Anton Panfilov, the head of the Ant-55 company, who worked with me for a long month, answered questions, and offered options.

I was completely satisfied with the result. Transformer Panasonic CF-19 has everything I want:
- i5 processor;
- SSD;
- built-in GPS;
- 4 USB ports;
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth;
- SIM card slot;
- com port;
- network and modem connectors;
- VGA output;
- input for microphone and headphones.
And all this with touch screen and a seriously protected case from moisture and dust.

The kit, being “used”, came to me in the condition of a practically new computer, except that there were minor abrasions in the lower part of the case that did not play any role. But, again on the bottom panel, two strong intersecting straps were attached to the laptop with stainless screws. So hitch it tablet getting to the binnacle turned out to be a piece of cake.

Transformer Panasonic CF-19. Tablet and a laptop “in one package”.

There are rumors that adversaries go to war with these machines. Funny fact. I know for sure: if warriors with Panasonics come to us, they will not defeat anyone. We will easily defeat ourselves if we create an internal mess like the Ukrainian one. But we are not afraid of any imported deprived person with a Panasonic in his hands. But as a mobile marine GPS navigation system It’s strange to wish for more!

Mobile marine GPS navigator. Accessories.

I'll stop for a moment separate parts"minced meat".

A 64-bit processor, 4 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD did an excellent job with all the tasks listed below, plus office, plus photos and videos, plus the Internet. Potentially, 8 GB of RAM and a 480 GB SSD would not hurt, but it’s not bad without them.

Built-in GPS, oddly enough, did not cause any complaints. However, if for some reason it doesn’t suit you, connecting my good old external receiver via Bluetooth is not a problem.

Two built-in USB ports have a decent supply of power. Two additional USB ports, obtained via a PCMCI card, are low-power and suitable only for a keyboard mouse.

A SIM card slot, imho, is not needed. Ant-55 employees shared the cabalistics of communication settings with MTS and Megafon. Set it up. Contacted. I realized that I insisted on this “feature” out of my own stupidity. You need to call using a small smartphone. To access the Internet, use the same smartphone as an access point. In general, if I were to complete the system now, I would not pay for a SIM slot.

VGA output - for large external monitor. This, along with the power socket, allows you to feel comfortable at home on the shore.

The touch screen responds well to your finger. Sometimes it is more convenient to work with a stylus, fortunately, it is attached to the tablet with a spring.

The screen brightness is fantastic, coping well with the midday sun.

The battery lasts about 5 hours at normal screen brightness.

CD apologists will have to purchase an external drive. An external HD for archiving photos and videos will also not be a hindrance.

Mobile marine GPS navigator. OS.

After some thought, I settled on Windows 7. Putting an eight, imho, means running ahead of the locomotive. Moreover, I don’t see any advantages of this OS over the seven for my tasks. I have a deliberate dislike for the top ten, since the fussy Gates was swayed by yelling in all the media and obsessive whining: “Well, put it... well, for free... well...”

Let me note to my penguin colleagues: I hesitated for a long time whether to put Windows. For everything navigation tasks the ones I use work great under Linux. But I still chose “windows” because of a couple of programs not related to navigation, Linux- analogues of which do not suit me.

Naturally, for reliable operation Windows follows:
- correctly configure the OS;
- use portable software that does not require “registry” and other shamanism;
- ignore “libraries” and other Gates gadgets designed for housewives and the “wow generation”;
- remove the system image by external means.

I will dwell on the last point in more detail:
1. Marking the laptop disk before installation Windows, you need to create a “C:” partition for the operating system and a “D:” partition for data (I recommend avoiding logical partitions, both are primary, “C:” is active).
2. On “C:” we install only the OS and install applications. On “D:” we store cards, background information, distributions, etc.
3. We never use things like “My Documents”, “My Drawings”, and do not place data on the desktop. Gates automatically shoves all this into the “C:” section, and the dying OS buries the “need” under its rubble.
4. Having created the laptop’s software environment and making sure that everything is in order, use a special utility to remove an image of the “C:” partition and write it to “D:”. The image is a low-level, cluster-by-cluster compressed copy of the contents of the “C:” partition and boot sector hard drive.
5. The utility that takes the image must be written to an external boot volume(CD, flash drive, external HD). From which we boot, bypassing the OS Windows.
6. When you need to roll back to a guaranteed working and clean state of the system, boot again from the same CD and restore the “C:” partition along with boot sector hard drive.

NTFSCOPY, NORTON GHOST, ACRONIS - applications for working with a disk or partition image.

There are various software for working with images. At one time, Norton Ghost was quite good (I don’t know now). On one of my home computers I use Linux-ntfscopy utility. And on Panasonic CF-19- Acronis utility True Image/Disk Director.

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Mobile marine GPS navigator. Software

All used navigation software does not require installation. All you have to do is unzip it locally, and off you go.

I get most of this software from the portableapps.com repository. At the same time, I don’t use any services from the repository itself; I don’t install any shells like “PortableApps.com Platform”, but download the product directly.

Desktop fragment tablet

OpenCPN Portable

Mobile marine GPS navigator. What's left on the smartphone.

All the software I left on smartphone, apologists for universalization can establish tablet-transformer. I didn't, and here's why:

Mobile Internet

Connection with mobile internet and distribution of it by the access point is left behind smartphone. The reason is the ornate settings required for the laptop to work - tablet in each individual country, they take too much time and effort to understand them. Moreover, in the absence of help from managers selling SIM cards, who enthusiastically look at a laptop with a module mobile communications, they cluck their tongues, but they can’t say anything sensible.

Metarea Marine Weather

Download here: play.google.com. Freeware.

Metarea Marine Weather ship weather forecast by Metzones of the Inmarsat GMDSS system (format NAVTEX).

Metarea Marine Weather - apk application for Android

On a laptop- tablet the same data can be obtained through a standard Internet browser. However, this requires, at a minimum, serious traffic. As a maximum - even more serious traffic for understanding the name of a specific weather region.

Metarea Marine Weather operates on the lungs text files and contains an Internet-free map directory of weather regions for each Metzone. I poked it a couple of times, and the forecast was before my eyes. Comfortable.

Local weather and tide applications

National weather and tidal applications for specific water areas, giving more sane forecast than the ever-lying “all-knowing global” British or North American weather sites.

MarineTraffic AIS

Download here: play.google.com. Freeware.

A witty application for those who do not have an on-board AIS but wants to see AIS- picture on the screen smartphone. Requires internet. Doesn't guarantee anything for anyone, but sometimes it turns out to be funny.

The same data can be obtained from tablet-transformer via standard browser. But smartphone- the application is more convenient.

Offline Dictionaries

Download here: play.google.com. Freeware.

Offline Dictionaries

An excellent offline dictionary with downloads of the required languages.

Navionics Marine Navigator

Download here: play.google.com. They want money for each region, but they don’t guarantee anything.

Imho, not very suitable for real life sea ​​voyages a craft that nevertheless exists. If you have an extra penny - why not? At least because of the maps and photographs of ports and anchorages that require the Internet.

Navionics - GPS chartplotter for Android
Navionics Marine Navigator

2 meters under the keel! :)

Kostya GUIDE

Currently, on vessels of various classes, on motor boats, cutters, motor and sail-motor vessels, satellite radio navigation system receivers (PI) are widely used. GPS, allowing you to determine the coordinates of the vessel and navigate along the intended routes.

Development of the NAVSTAR GPS (NAVigation Satellite Timing And Ranging Global Positioning System) concept began in 1973 at the initiative of the US military department, because radios operating at this time navigation systems(RNS), ground-based “Loran-C” and “Oteda” and satellite (SNS) “Transit” no longer meet the requirements for accuracy, all-weather, round-the-clock operation and coverage area. In February 1978, the first experimental GPS satellite was launched, and the civil use of the system became widely discussed in 1983 after the crash of a South Korean airliner shot down over the Kuril Islands.

Satellite radio navigation system GPS (Global Positioning System) has a number of undeniable advantages over other navigation systems. These benefits include:

high accuracy;

worldwide coverage area;

ease of receipt geographical coordinates;

the ability to obtain geographic coordinates at any time of the day, regardless of weather conditions and using a unified methodology;

unlimited number of simultaneous users;

System GPS provides two types of services, one for civilian and the other for military users, which differ in the accuracy of location.

System composition

The GPS system consists of three parts: space, ground and user equipment.

Space part- these are 24 satellites rotating in 6 orbits. The inclination of the orbits to the earth's equator is 55°, the angle between the orbital planes is 60°. The altitude of the orbits is 20180 km, the orbital period is 12 hours. The power of the satellite transmitter is 50 W. GPS satellites are able, by moving, to fill gaps in the system (if one of them fails). An important element of the satellite are atomic clocks, rubidium and cesium, four on each. Each satellite has a PRN (Pseudo Random Number) identification number, which is displayed on the GPS receiver, and the satellite has a service life of about 10 years.

Fixed GPS receivers

Stationary receivers designed for permanent installation in wheelhouses undersized recreational ships sea ​​navigation area, on dashboards boats, in the cockpits of yachts. Their characteristic feature is the presence of an external antenna (although sometimes there are receivers with a built-in antenna) and power from external source direct current. They usually have large liquid crystal monochrome screens with alphanumeric and graphic display of information. ...

Methods for using a GPS receiver

Navigating by Waypoints. A waypoint is some point of interest on the earth's or water's surface that you need to arrive at sometime. Waypoints are created in advance using a map or during movement and are recorded in the device’s memory with names assigned to them in digital, alphabetical or alphanumeric form. This recording procedure is described in detail in the GPS PI operating instructions. ...

Theoretically, any GPS navigator can be used on a ship - wearable, and so on. It will cope with two main tasks - determining coordinates and guiding a course to a given point. But the peculiarities of operating ship GPS navigators at sea impose specific requirements, which can only be fully met by a specially designed marine device. What are these features?

On solid ground, a GPS receiver creates a lot of conveniences, but in addition to it, as a rule, there are fixed landmarks, a road, a path, and relief elements along which you, although not without difficulty, can find your way in case of failure or error. At sea, often in your field of vision there are only monotonous waves from horizon to horizon.

Distant lighthouses, islands, and the coastline, if visible, often merge into a barely visible strip, which is not easy to identify and determine the distance to it even with great experience. In the eyepieces of 7x binoculars, when rocking, these objects perform an incredible dance, sometimes to the point of complete impossibility of observation. In the dark, in rain, fog or storm, your field of vision is often limited to the nearest wave crests a dozen or two meters away. And navigational hazards - reefs, shoals, rocks, other sunken ships, and so on, are also found in the open sea, out of sight of the shores.

If on a hiking trip or a car trip, due to a navigation error, you will only be late to your destination, in the worst case, spend the night in the forest, use up fuel and stop on the road, experience stress, etc., then at sea the error is a hundred meters can lead to the death of a ship, cargo, people, and other destructive consequences. Therefore, marine navigation - one of the main areas of application of GPS - can only be compared in responsibility to air navigation. The rules of safety, maritime practice, and navigator duty, developed by centuries of experience, are written in blood.

Your life can literally depend on the reliability of your ship's GPS navigators and other navigation devices, their ease of use, the quality of maps, and your navigation skills. This, in addition to increased requirements for GPS navigators themselves, entails the requirement for their mandatory duplication with other navigation means. Thus, not a single ship, no matter what electronic innovations it is equipped with, can go to sea without a simple magnetic compass.

Extreme operating conditions for marine and ship GPS navigators.

On a ship, especially a small one, there is always high humidity and rolling, even in good weather. In a storm, when the cost of an error is especially high, your instruments will be splashed and filled with water, you will have to quickly and accurately read their readings during impacts, roll, and with your hands busy. Fatigue, fear, stress, seasickness will “help” you make a mistake. On the shore during a hike or trip, in case of problems, you can always stop on the side of the road, fix the problem, think, and rest. There is no shoulder at sea.

No matter how bad you feel, you can only stop once you reach the harbor. Hence the requirements: reliability of the devices and their power supply, a necessarily splash-proof or sealed design, a simple, no-frills, but well-thought-out, intuitive control system. The display should be with the maximum font big size. Of course, preference should be given to specialized navigators from well-known companies with experience in the maritime field. Of course, you will have to come to terms with the fact that any equipment labeled marine, for objective and subjective reasons, is more expensive than its “land” counterparts.

Stationary design of marine and ship GPS navigators.

As a rule, a GPS navigator is installed permanently on a ship, operates for many hours in a row, often around the clock, and is powered not by batteries, but by an external source. A wearable device can be equipped with a bracket and an external power adapter, but for additional money, and in a stationary navigator all this will be included as standard. In addition, the size of the display has already been mentioned above. However, even large yachts often keep a battery-powered portable navigator as a backup. If a portable device is purchased, it should be convenient for use in a stationary version.

In this regard, for example, the Garmin eTrex series with its small and tight buttons on the sides, although brackets are available for it, most likely will not best choice. Therefore, you should prefer models with big screen and buttons on the front panel. Built-in compass sensor permanent installation, most likely, will be useless. Data from compasses built into navigators produced today are not transmitted via NMEA, and they cannot be used in other on-board devices. On the contrary, the information from the built-in barometer will be very useful to the navigator.

Ease of control on marine and ship GPS navigators.

It is better to choose a device with a large number of buttons. This provides more fast access to functions through specialized buttons, rather than by sequentially selecting menu commands. When pitching and in extreme situations, this is important. A convenient option is devices with multifunctional keys (Soft Keys), or/and with a numeric keypad for direct input numerical values. Sound signaling of a number of events is mandatory for marine and ship GPS navigators.

— Displacement from the anchorage (driving from the anchor).
— Arrival at the destination.
— Deviation from course.
— Approaching a waypoint.
- Alarm.
- Shallow water.
- Great depths.

Remote antenna for marine and ship GPS navigators.

If the GPS receiver is installed in the cockpit, bridge, wheelhouse or cabin made of fiberglass, other than a multi-layer “sandwich” with wooden layers, then, as a rule, a built-in antenna is sufficient. In all other cases, marine GPS navigators will require a remote antenna. Some navigators have a removable antenna on a BNC connector, which can be carried out on a special extension cable of limited length.

But optimal choice There will still be a special marine active antenna. Such mushroom-shaped antennas for marine GPS navigators are available with internal threads: a standard mount for marine radios and other antennas. As a rule, the threaded lower part is removable. Once removed, the antenna can be placed flat on a flat surface. By coaxial cable DC power is supplied to the antenna from the GPS receiver. Many marine GPS navigators have the entire GPS receiver in one compact housing with an antenna.

Possibility of integration of other devices with marine GPS navigators.

On a ship there is often a need to connect different devices and exchange information between them. For example, if the boat has two control stations, in the wheelhouse and on the upper bridge, the information should be duplicated on the displays of both posts. On sailing yachts, the navigator often works below in the cabin, and information about the course, direction to the waypoint, speed and depth should be displayed in the cockpit in front of the helmsman on an auxiliary display, the so-called repeater.

GPS data is transmitted to the radar so that it can orient the screen according to the cardinal directions, determine not only heading angles and ranges, but also target coordinates, to a radio station with a DSC (Digital Selective Call) system, which automatically issues a distress signal with coordinates, etc. d. GPS is often coupled with an autopilot. To do this, devices must have data input/output ports that operate either using the standard NMEA protocol or proprietary protocols. In the first case, the devices are compatible with any devices that support this protocol, but functionality exchange of information is limited.

The second option provides more opportunities, but requires purchasing some or all of the equipment from one company. On the other hand, branded instrument systems can be equipped with an adapter with an NMEA port, of course, for an additional fee. Devices, even NMEA ones, often do not support all message types; either input only or output only.

For example, if you buy a fish finder with NMEA output, you hope to connect it to your chartplotter so that the display will also show depth, but this will only work if the plotter supports not just NMEA, but specifically depth reporting (DBT or DPT). The number of NMEA ports also matters. Typically, only one NMEA device can be connected to one port. When choosing devices, you need to take into account compatibility and the possibility of future expansion of your on-board instrument network.

Based on materials from the book “All about GPS navigators.”
Naiman V.S., Samoilov A.E., Ilyin N.R., Sheinis A.I.